EEA Family Permit Surinder Singh Processing Time

[Galway2014]

I'm a British Citizen currently exercising economic treaty rights in Ireland to get my Chinese wife to the UK. We were married in China last year and as we did not want to be separated for 6 months while I work in the UK for the Spouse Visa, we decided the best option would be the Surinder Singh route via Ireland.

My wife applied for an EEA family permit on the 21st July after I had been working over 4 months full time, we were told that the application would take up to 15 working days to process. On the 6th August we received an email saying that our application could not be processed within the 15 working days but they will try to process it as soon as possible or they will write to us within a further 10 working days.

We have heard nothing since so I phoned the UKVI and after waiting on hold for over 30 minutes we were told that these applications are usually processed between 3 and 12 weeks! Now that's a ridiculous amount of time as I have a job lined up and a rental agreement in the UK starting September. My question is do EEA Family Permit applications normally take this long? Is there a relevant EU Directive that states these applications must be processed within 3 weeks? Has anyone else waited this long for the EEA Family Permit?

Thanks in advance guys!

[Wanderer]

Is 4 months enough to satisfy the 'centre of life' criteria? Most folks recommend 6-12 months nowadays for this route since the rules tightened...

Also it's not clear from your post, is you wife with you in Ireland? Think the permit is called FAM4 or similar....

[dalebutt]

It is only a matter of weeks before the centre of life requirement will be scrapped, doesn't conform with the law it's as simple as that.

[Wanderer]

It is only a matter of weeks before the centre of life requirement will be scrapped, doesn't conform with the law it's as simple as that.

Is hopping to Ireland for a few months and hopping back to deliberately circumvent UK rules conformation with the law?

Just saying like, there two ways of looking at it and I can see both.....

[dalebutt]

Remeber a previous thread where you have been corrected, it does not amount to circumvention of the law by any means, it is legal and thus cannot be said as circumventing, Akrich, Levin, and Surinder Singh judgment clearly state that, to answer your question, yes hopping forth and back does conform with the law, it is the centre of life that doesn't.

[st2447]

Is 4 months enough to satisfy the 'centre of life' criteria? Most folks recommend 6-12 months nowadays for this route since the rules tightened...

Also it's not clear from your post, is you wife with you in Ireland? Think the permit is called FAM4 or similar....

I demonstrated that it can be done in less than 4 months here

http://www.immigrationboards.com/eea-ro ... 69701.html

Galway2014:
If you are refused and feel that you have the right documents then i'd suggest you consider returning without a Family Permit and applying for an EEA2 in the UK. Atleast if you are refused you can appeal in country and rely on c456-12.

[Galway2014]

Hi guys, I just want to thank you all for your responses, my wife received her Family Permit yesterday!
We have been successful after working just 4 months and residing together in Ireland for 6 months.

Our timeline:

16th February 2014: Arrived in Ireland - my wife was given a 30 day stamp in her passport. Initially we were panicking that we only had 30 days to find a place to live and a job in order to apply for EU1. However, we were told at the local Garda immigration office that my wife still has the right to reside in Ireland even though I am a jobseeker.

27th February 2014: We moved into a rented apartment and received our PPS numbers shortly after.

18th March 2014: My wife applied for EU1 and received her Stamp 4 with the right to work around 2 weeks later.

4th April 2014: I started working full time.

21st July 2014: My wife applied for the EEA Family Permit.

26th August: My wife received her Family Permit.

In regards to the "centre of life" rule, it really isn't too hard to meet the requirements and you certainly don't have to work over 6 months. Thanks once again guys and I wish anyone else going through the same process the best of luck! I'd be delighted to answer any questions anyone may have.

[st2447]

Congratulations! I have a quick question. Did your wife receive a temp stamp 4 or a 5 year stamp 4?
Didn't the INIS ask for proof that you were working for the EU1?

[kindred_1st]

Congrats to you and your family Galway.

We're about to submit our application this week. Can I ask what supporting documents you submitted?

Thanks!

[mash123]

I applied after 5 months residency and 4 months self employment and quoted all the case laws (akrich, metock, eind etc) but still been refused twice coz hubby has past refusal in 2012 so they refuse on basis of trying to bypass immigration rules.
Should I apply again for the family permit? Surely it will b refused again. Passport will b full of refusal stamps.

[Directive/2004/38/EC]

I applied after 5 months residency and 4 months self employment and quoted all the case laws (akrich, metock, eind etc) but still been refused twice coz hubby has past refusal in 2012 so they refuse on basis of trying to bypass immigration rules.
Should I apply again for the family permit? Surely it will b refused again. Passport will b full of refusal stamps.

I suggest you start a new thread with your question. But in general past refusals are not relevant.

[lhkong]

Thank you for your sharing.
We are applying for the EU1 as well and my husband is a job seeker and didn't work in Ireland before.
We would like to ask, is he categorized as unemployment in the application form?
and according to the form, it requested the P60 for previous two years employment and P45 for the last employer and the letter from the last employer. but my husbands didn't work in ireland before, so would we skip these documents?

[ciao123]

Hi guys, I just want to thank you all for your responses, my wife received her Family Permit yesterday!
We have been successful after working just 4 months and residing together in Ireland for 6 months.

Our timeline:

16th February 2014: Arrived in Ireland - my wife was given a 30 day stamp in her passport. Initially we were panicking that we only had 30 days to find a place to live and a job in order to apply for EU1. However, we were told at the local Garda immigration office that my wife still has the right to reside in Ireland even though I am a jobseeker.

27th February 2014: We moved into a rented apartment and received our PPS numbers shortly after.

18th March 2014: My wife applied for EU1 and received her Stamp 4 with the right to work around 2 weeks later.

4th April 2014: I started working full time.

21st July 2014: My wife applied for the EEA Family Permit.

26th August: My wife received her Family Permit.

In regards to the "centre of life" rule, it really isn't too hard to meet the requirements and you certainly don't have to work over 6 months. Thanks once again guys and I wish anyone else going through the same process the best of luck! I'd be delighted to answer any questions anyone may have.

Hi Galway, can you plz tell us what supporting documents you submitted with your application. Many THanks